Responding to Dr. Smith's ENG 102 Students

This weekend we officially take our tutoring business into the blogosphere! This is going to be great fun!

Dr. Smith’s class blog is http://102supernatural.blogspot.com/

The Assignment:
This Monday and Tuesday, respond to Professor Jason Smith’s ENG 102 class’ drafts of their first paper. Thursday night we looked at Dr. Smith's course blog and each chose two of his students to respond to. The ENG 102 students will be posting draft essays Monday the 22nd. So you need to respond to your assigned students between Monday around noon (the time their paper draft should appear) and Tuesday night at 5:45. I will be available through email to answer your questions during this time, except for when I sleep at night (a serious commitment I made long ago). Also, keep your eye on this blog for updates. (I will be in various locations over the course of Monday and Tuesday and not always with access to the blog, but certainly with constant access to my Blackberry and therefore my email. So email will be the best way to get in touch quickly if you have a problem or question while looking a the writer's draft.)

How to Respond:

FIRST, read the entire draft/post.

SECOND, look for the ONE thing you like best about the draft, or (if nothing is great) whatever area you think has great potential. Then decide on the ONE higher order concern you would like to see the writer work on. You might also think about whether there is an area of the draft you'd like to hear more about. Find it and ask the writer some leading questions to generate more writing. This could be an especially useful strategy if the draft is perfect and there are no concerns (an unlikely scenario, but one can dream...). Give your response tremendous thought. The writer is going to take your advice seriously and what you say can really effect the next step they will take with their paper.

THIRD, after you've finally decided how to focus your response, enter your feedback into the writer's blog, starting with what you like best, then following with an acknowledgement and explanation of the ONE higher order concern you would like to see him/her work on. Just post as yourself, a fellow student, in a friendly manner, NOT as an authority figure or someone who is ABOVE them. Remember, good tutoring is non-hierarchical and student-centered.

FOURTH, go back to your own blog and write an entry entitled, “Why I said what I said to (insert name of student here).” In this post, reflect on what you said to the writer and describe the process of how you arrived at your choice of the higher order concern on which to focus. Since you have two writers to respond to, you will be making two entries--one for each.

Good Luck! …and have fun! Remember, this is our first time doing this. We are still learning, so don't freak out if it's difficult.